4-i 



AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



February; 



injurious, not only to the honey pro- 

 ducers of this State but of the nation 

 and that we discourage the circula- 

 tion of such periodicals in this state. 



Resolved, That a copy of this reso- 

 lution be furnished the American Bee- 

 Keeper for publication. 



H. L. Case, J. T. Greene, Geo. B. 

 Howe, Committee on resolutions. 



Geneva, N. Y., Dec. 19, 1906. 



In rearing our queens, let us pay 

 more attention to the selection of 

 drones. 



OBSERVING THE HOME LIFE 

 AND HABITS OF THE BEE. 



Popular Theories and Guess Work 

 Must Give Place to Positive Know- 

 ledge Gained Through Persistent 

 Effort Aided by Modern Applian- 

 ces. 



.VKTHUK C. .MILLER. 



MUCH SMUG satisfaction some 

 persons seem to take in mak- 

 ing positive assertions as to 

 acts and habits of bees which they, 

 having never been able to see for 

 themselves, deem it impossible for 

 others to sec. It may suffice for 

 bolstering up a reputation made to 

 order by some supply firm, but it is 

 a somewhat hazardous expedient. 

 The American Bee-Keeper has had 

 the satisfaction of exposing several 

 such faked observations and the fol- 

 lowing will spoil a few more. 



One such authority has solemnly 

 >aid that the field bee on returning 

 with a load of nectar turns it over to 

 a young l)cc who puts it into the 

 Ntorage cells, i. e., surplus depart- 

 ment — the depositing being done by 

 licking the interior of the cell, the 

 nectar flowing from the tongue, a 

 ■>ort of painting process. Recently he 

 has said that the young bee does not 

 g.i at once to the super with it but 



may put it into a cell in the brood 

 chamber or hold it and ripen it. Hi;? 

 statements have been heralded a."; 

 new- and authoritative. They are not 

 new and they are not correct. A 

 strange coincidence in connection 

 with manj^ of the various announce- 

 ments by the man referred to is that 

 so many of them appeared at a prior 

 time elsewhere by other writers. 



The actual occurrences are as fol- 

 lows: The field bee on returning with 

 a load passes over the combs until 

 ^he comes to a cell to suit her, which 

 may be anywhere from top to bottorwi 

 of the comb. Whether the cell be 

 empty or partly filled the bee enterk 

 it feet up and back down and advanc- 

 es until the folded antennae reach the 

 honey already in the cell or the cell 

 base. The head is now tipped until 

 the mouth is either against the upper 

 angle of the base of the cell or until 

 the mandibles are immersed in the 

 honey near the upper side of the cell. 

 The mandibles are now worked back 

 and forth, the mouth proper being 

 open, and the nectar from the honey 

 sack is steadily forced out. As the 

 nectar is discharged the bee slowly 

 turns her head from side to side. In 

 the case of the first load placed in n 

 cell it is left adhering to the uppcr 

 and rearmost corners b'lt it gradually 

 spreads over the base or a little along 

 the floor of the cell, its movement 

 being governed by its consistency. 



The tongue of the bee takes absn- 

 lutelj^ no part in the depositing of 

 the nectar, but is folded up snugly, 

 behind the bee's "chin". The gath- 

 ering bee does not give her load t<> 

 one of the younger or nurse bees but 

 puts it directly into the cell. From 

 this it is later taken by other bees 

 and ripened and redeposited else- 

 where or consumed. Where the nec- 

 tar is added to some already in the 

 cell it does not at once combine with 

 it but seems separated from it by a 



